History Galore

By Emma Fleming

After a nice morning of sleeping in, we were headed to the National Museum of Scotland. Today was the first day that we were able to see the beautiful mountain (or maybe a hill) behind where we are staying. The same goes for the castles- the fog finally cleared and we got to see what Scotland really had to offer.

The museum began with a section on ancient History of Scotland. After many artifacts and exhibits later, we found the “costume” section! We got to see what the Scots wore in the 16th century. Since people did not have much money, they would often have to wear their clothes until they were literally no longer able to be worn. The picture below is my friend Holly modeling some of the clothes.

Dress up time! Holly was nominated

My whole life I have known my heritage as being Irish, German and a tad French. I think my parents might be trying to fool me because this is the second day that I have found my last name on something dealing with Scotland. I found the name “Fleming” on a list of surnames or the origins of people in Scotland. My family potentially came from the Southern part of Scotland.

Am I Scottish? We’ll never know

If I was to list one fact about Scotland before I came here I would say they are known for their whiskey. Let me tell you I was not wrong when I said they are known for this- they pride themselves on their heritage and history of whiskey. Although it is definitely not my drink, I can see the appeal to the native Scottish civilians. Apparently, whiskey is derived from Gaelic and means “water of life”. I sure hope no one drinks whiskey like water, or we could have some serious problems here!

We ended our time in the museum with a beautiful view of Scotland. The rain definitely didn’t stop us from soaking in the view of ancient castles and buildings surrounding us.